Meant To Be With
by Bamlover
Summary: Post Chosen AU Fic where Buffy and the Scoobys go in search of newbies.
1. Prologue

_**I own nothing but the idea, I'm just burrowing the **_**_characters_**

_**A/N: This is my first every Buffy Fic and it's been floating around in my head off and on for like 3 years so most of it's written already. It is a Fuffy and Spashley fic, so if the idea of F/F relationships bothers you stop right here. For everyone else enjoy. I'm a little hungry so don't forget to feed me. All authors need a little feedback. Alright enough of my babbling. Enjoy**_

_**Prologue:**_

It was a Friday night in Three Rivers and their was absolutely nothing to do in town…apart from the High School football game. However, the tight group of friends wanted nothing to do with it. They were affectionately known as the _Golden Girls_ around town, ever since the year before when they had decided to dress up for Halloween as just that and it was a huge hit. The foursome was currently sitting in the living room of the eldest, Sam's house. Girl's night in was definitely better than sitting in the stands with a bunch of drunken high school boys trying to cop a feel.

"Best idea ever…" The natural blonde-haired woman said popping a piece of still warm popcorn in her mouth.

"It's the best idea you've had in…. wait, you've never had a good idea, Sam." receiving a playful tap on the arm. "And what color exactly is you hair supposed to be this week?"

Alex said plopping down on the couch next to her friend Bella.

"Umm I'm think it's supposed to be…" Bella said looking at her friend's hair trying to figure it out. "Well I see green…and umm red…"

"Don't forget yellow." The brunette piped in.

"Sweetie, that's her natural hair color." She smirked at her.

"Very funny, guys." The other girl rolled her eyes. "If I didn't love you guys, I'd kick you out of my house." Sam leaned forward and took a drink of her soda that sat on the coffee table.

"Like you could." Alex said throwing her arm around Bella and lightly pushing Sam on the head. Leaving her hand there, she subtlety squeezed the girl's shoulder as she was sitting next to her. Over the last few months, the two, unbeknownst to the others in the group, had gotten very close.

"Girls no fighting." squeezing the hand on her shoulder in return. "What the hell is taking Spence so long?"

"Probably having phone sex with Carmen." the taller girl replied.

"Yeah." Sam chuckled nervously and shifted in her seat. "Let me go see what's going on." Standing, the natural blonde made her way to the kitchen.

"You know I really want to kiss you." Bella whispered making sure their friend was completely out of the room.

"What's stopping you?" The taller girl said gently turning her head to face her.

"Nothing." She replied breathlessly and crashed her lips into hers. Turning her body so it was fully facing her friend, Bella ran her hands through her friend's hair pulling her closer to her. The moment was over before it started when noise coming from the door startled them both, causing them to jump apart.

"I got it." Sam called from the kitchen. "What's up with you two?" The multi-color haired girl asked as she entered the room. "You're all twitchy." she quipped.

"We're not…I'm not…We're just…what are you trying to say?" Alex rambled.

"Chill Al." Bella calmly replied placing a hand on her knee.

"You're such a spaz sometimes." She chuckled as she rolled her eyes. "Foods here." She smiled as she looked through the peep hole.

"Why is Al a spaz this time?" Spencer asked laughing slightly as she finally joined the group.

"When isn't she?" Sam asked as she paid the delivery boy.

"Screw you, Sam." Alex said letting her temper show itself.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" the older girl said as she shut the door and walked over the group placing the food on the table. Even before it was known around town that the foursome was gay, everyone thought they were all together anyway, which is why they had been surprised when someone outside the group had caught the eye of the youngest Spencer. Carmen was her name and they had been together for about a year.

"Ladies, let's not have a pissing match please." Looking at both of them for added measure, giving Alex's knee another gently squeeze showing she was on her side in the matter. "Let's eat, I'm starved."

"Do you have a bottomless pit for a stomach?" Alex chimed in poking the girl in the stomach.

"She must have she just ate two burgers earlier." Spencer laughed at her brunette best friend.

"No fair I tell you." Sam said picking up her box of Chinese food. "Bottomless pit…and no exercise to show for it…And I have to work out five days a week just to fit into my swimsuit for swim team."

"But you look damn good in it." Alex quipped nodding her head at the thought.

"Perv." The other girls said in unison as they all threw pillows at her.

"It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it." She smirked.

Groaning, the other girls picked up their food and they all began to eat in a comfortable silence. This had been their routine for years, spending the night over at each other's houses, when there was nothing better to do they could always find fun with each other.

"Alright." Alex said as they slowly finished eating. "I'm stuffed." She sighed, rubbing her stomach.

"I think I ate too much." Spencer said throwing her head back.

"I couldn't eat another bite." Sam replied. After a moment they all turned to look at Bella who seemed to have not gotten her fill. "Uhu mhmm." Clearing her throat. "Bells sweetie."

"Uh…huh?" Bella looked up from her box.

"Cute." Alex smiled pulling the loose noodle from her friends chin and popping it in her mouth.

"Oh…sorry." the girl slightly blushed, putting her box down. "Guess I went a little crazy there."

"It's ok _'We all go a little crazy sometimes.'" _The taller girl replied quoting her favorite horror movie.

"Spaz." Bella rolled her eyes.

"I'll show you spaz." The girl grinned as she began to tickle the younger girl seemingly forgetting that they weren't the only two in the room.

Looking at them in disbelief, the other girls turned towards each other and mouthed _"What the hell?". _ Horse play wasn't unusual but what they saw before them was borderline foreplay.

"Umm, you guys want to get a room?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, Bobby's over at Greg's tonight I'm sure that he won't mind you two getting it on in his room." Sam smirked raising her eyebrow at the two.

"Huh what?" Bella gently pushing Alex off of her.

"Sam was saying how if you want to get it on in her brother's room, it is free." Spencer replied chuckling.

"Whatever guys." Alex said rolling her eyes and brushing their remarks off. They were right, but they didn't want them to know just yet…they didn't want to ruin things. "Are we gonna watch the movie or what?"

"Please tell me it's not Horror. You guys know how I hate Horror." Spencer said as she looked around.

"Don't worry, we'll protect you." Sam replied as she popped _Resident Evil: Extinction_ into her Blu-ray player and grabbing her hand as Sam made her way back over to the couch.

"You guys better cause if I have nightmares you're all getting a 3am call." Spencer whined as they all settled in to watch the movie.

_**The Edge Of Sunnydale, California**_

Sitting on the edge of the canyon, the dark Slayer picked up a rock and tossed it inside. She had been sitting there for a while. "Hey B." the dark Slayer said calmly, not having to look back to know who was standing behind her.

"How'd you know it was me?" She asked, looking down puzzled at the other slayer.

"You know, slayer connection and all." the brunette Slayer smirked unmoving from the edge of the pit.

"It could have been one of the newbie's." the blonde replied.

"Nah." the dark Slayer shrugged. "I always can tell it's you, B." throwing another rock into the pit. "My Slayer senses go crazy when you're around."

"I don't know if I should be flattered or disturbed by that." The blonde Slayer chuckled slightly.

"It's all good, B." the brunette moved her head side to side, cracking her neck.

"Thanks." Buffy said lower.

"What for?" The dark Slayer asked finally looking back.

"You know saving me back there…that vamp had me down and you took lead without a second thought."

"No sweat, B…that's what partners do, right?"

"Can't you just accept a thank you like a normal person?" the blonde asked frustrated. Her dark counterpart always knew how to push her buttons.

"Never been one for normal." the dark Slayer shrugged. "Always about the down and dirty of it all." For a moment they were quiet, just being. "Those Uber Vamps were wicked bad ass. I could totally go for just a regular vamp you know?"

Buffy nodded. She and Faith were still in an awkward stage; they weren't exactly friends but not entirely enemies anymore. They'd saved the world together. That had to count for something right? "You're gonna take off?" Buffy crossed her arms over her chest as she stood behind her. It wasn't really a question, more of a statement.

"I've got no reason to stay." the other Slayer replied as she popped her knuckles. "Apocalypse averted, it seems my job is done." standing. "I can…" she stopped when she noticed the other girl's face. "What, B.? You can hardly stand me…what do you want me around for?"

"Well… when you weren't all psycho girl you were… fun to be around."

"You can tell what fun is, being wound up so tight?" she smirked.

"I'm not wound tight…" she quipped. "Well, not anymore."

"Whatever, B." Faith ran her hand through her hair. "What is it that you really want…it's not like you need me around anymore. You got plenty of newbie Slayers just ready to…uh." She said with a grunt.

"We've really gotta talk about you and grunting." She shook her head. "Not attractive at all."

"You'd be surprised." The dark Slayer smirked.

"Ok…Eww!" The older Slayer thought aloud. Shaking her head of the unwanted visual, Buffy managed to regain her composure. "Where will you go?" she was trying to steer the topic in another direction.

"I don't know, B…wherever the wind takes me." She chuckled slightly. "Don't worry, if I get bored I'll come find you guys….I'm sure you will be loads of fun." Faith paused and looked across the horizon. "Now I think it's time for a little Grand Theft Auto." She grinned as she touched the other girl's shoulder before walking away.

"Be careful, Faith." the blonde said sincerely.

"You know me, B…" she turned around and walked backwards, her eyes locked with the blonde's "I'm always-"

"Five-by-Five." the blonde Slayer finished nodding.

"Laters." The brunette replied dimples on full display as she walked off into the sunset.

"Where's Faith going?" The Slayer's best friend asked as he walked up to her.

"Don't know, Xand." Buffy shrugged

"She's not going all psycho girl on us is she?"

"Don't think so…not this time. I think she's back to being normal Faith…before she tried to kill us…" the blonde Slayer said matter-of-factly.

"That's a relief." the boy said nodding like it wasn't a big deal. "So anyway…Wills and Kennedy went to get some food and supplies."

"So we're roughing it?"

"If by roughing it you mean the Buffster has to sleep in a tent on the ground then…yes, we're roughing it." he chuckled lightly to himself.

"Xander…" She whined. "I don't do sleeping outside well."

"I know…but we have to wait for Giles to get money from the Council…what's left of it." He pulled the blonde into his arms. "It's gonna cost way too much to put us and all these girls up in a hotel. We're gonna need something more permanent." Feeling her nod, he

continued. "It'll probably be only for a night or two…But we did it, Buff."

"Yeah, we did." She smiled. "Angel said nothing made it out of Sunnydale…well beside us, of course."

"The job of the Slayer and her gang is never done…I'm sure there's trouble out there somewhere." The one eyed man stared in space.

"Don't say that…it's way to soon to be talking about trouble." Looking at her friend she said, "It's totally your fault if trouble shows it's ugly head."

"Right, no talk of trouble." he nodded. "We should get back…Willow's probably back by now. Even if she's not, it's probably not a good idea to leave the girls alone."

"No…we wouldn't want that." the blonde Slayer sighed with just a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"I'm just saying, Dawnie wouldn't appreciate it if we left her with a bunch of raging hormonal teenage girls."

"Keyword you're missing Xand. Underaged. So hands off."

"But…but."

"But nothing. Nobody's going to jail under my watch." she nodded with conviction. "Let's go." The blonde slayer pulled him back towards their make shift camp.

TBC...

Let me know what you think


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Again Own nothing hope everybody who's read it will keep liking it. :) **

Chapter 1

_**Somewhere In Los Angeles, California**_

"What do you say, Ash?" the young boy said pounding the bag, as his best friend held it.

"Don't know, Aiden. Doesn't usually work out well for you." She smirked "I'm the one that usually needs help with the girls by the end of the night."

"Luck…I just didn't see anyone I like."

"Ha." She let go of the bag. "Come on let's spare…your ass is totally mine this time."

"That's what you said the last time." The boy was smiling as they made their way out to the mat.

"Bring it on, Davies." He teased her, getting into his fighting stance.

"Stop talking and fight." The girl said throwing a jab and connecting with his ribs.

"Ah." He hissed. There was more power behind it then he was used to. Quickly recovering, Aiden threw a jab of his own. Missing, he was caught off guard by the elbow Ashley threw, landing square in the back of his head. "Geez Ash…you trying to kill me?" He exclaimed holding the back of his head.

"I'm not hitting any harder than I normally do." the brunette shrugged as she was bouncing on her toes.

"Could have fooled me!"

"Don't be a baby, Aiden. I'm just a girl…fight me."

"Now who's talking?" he lifted his leg, hitting her with a side kick following with a series of punches, knocking her off balance onto the floor. Running towards her, he was met with a leg sweep causing him to fall flat on his back. The girl put her hands behind her head, bent at her waist and pushed off the mat, landing on her feet.

"Come on, Aiden." The girl egged him on.

"You're really getting on my nerves. When did you get so good?"

"I've always been this good..I just never knew you sucked so bad." the brunette replied. Seeing he was back on his feet, Ashley was on the attack putting her friend on the defensive. With her left and right kicks both blocked, it caused her to make her way up his body connecting with a left and right jab.

"Ahh!" the boy yelled in pain and before he knew it, Ashley hit him with a punch to the jaw knocking him out cold.

"Oh my God! Aiden, are you OK?" Ashley asked running to his side. "Aiden come on, wake up!" She tapped his jaw.

"Uh…" he whined slowly stirring. "What hit me?"

"I did." Ashley was smiling sheepishly.

"You're kidding me?" He sat up on his elbows.

"'fraid not." She shook her head. "I'm sorry." The girl examined his jaw. "You're gonna have a nasty bruise though."

"Ah!" He winced, hissing at her touch. "It's OK." sitting up all the way now. "You owe me."

"What for?" she asked incredulously.

"Me letting you knock me out."

"What do you want?" Ashley sighed and, shook her head as he began to grin. Sighing, the young girl held out her hand to help him up. "Fine." she said with a grunt.

Hours later the two were at Ego, the music was pounding as Ashley sat at the bar of the local Night Club.

"Another." The girl said placing the shot glass back on the bar. The night was young and she really didn't want to be here, but she promised her best friend she'd be his wing man. Although, she was failing miserably. Every girl that came up to the two seemed to be more interested in her.

"Maybe it wasn't a good idea coming on ladies night." the brunette chuckled taking another shot.

"Ash…" the boy whined. "You're totally blocking." He looked at her annoyed.

"Me? I'm just sitting here. It's not my fault I'm hotter." She took another shot. "I told you this was a bad idea…Chicks dig rock stars." Stifling her laughter at her friend's face. "You were better off asking your cousin JD."

"If you're a block, he's total repellent." the boy stated, sitting down dejectedly on the stool next to her.

"We could try Greys" the young girl offered. "Maybe-"

"Aren't you Rafe Davies' daughter?" A young redhead asked cutting off the brunette. "You just had that new song come out didn't you?"

"I might be." Ashley glanced back at her.

"She is ok." Aiden said slightly peeved. "What do you want?"

"Now who's blocking?" Ashley asked under her breath to her best friend.

"What happened to his face?" the redhead noticed the bruise that had already formed on the boy's jaw.

"Don't worry about it." Ashley waved her question off. "Look I'm willing to be anybody you want babe, if you say you've got a cute friend to introduce to my best friend."

"Would my twin work?" The girl said motioning towards a girl that stood a little behind her.

"Oh hell yeah!" The boy yelled.

"You'll have to excuse my friend, he's not used to beautiful woman." chuckling as she rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." Trying to ignore her comment.

"Order whatever you want, drinks are on me…" Ashley said to the redhead. "Meet us in the V.I.P. room in 15."

"Ok, sounds great." The redhead leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. "It'll definitely be worth your time."

"How the hell did you just do that?" Aiden questioned, amazed at her best friend's skills.

"It's a gift. You're not gonna blow a load already are you?" Ashley chuckled. "You haven't even touched her yet." The brunette took another shot in her mouth, letting the cool liquid burn its way down her throat.

"Ha…Ha…I'm serious, Ash… you don't even know their names and they basically agreed to do anything you want."

"And you'll owe me for it later." the young brunette stood up, patting him on the back as she did.

"You're such a dog." he shook his head.

"Yeah and you love that about me." she quipped as they made their way up the stairs to the V.I.P. room. "So ladies who's ready to party?" the young woman walked in the room with her best friend in tow.

_**Present Day…**_

The bell at the top of the door rang telling the clerk that someone had entered. Putting down her pricing gun, she made her way quickly to the front of the store. Going to stand behind the counter the young blonde-haired woman waited as the man and woman made their choices. That was one of the many policies that her mom reminded her about constantly. _"Lock up before you leave…put the money away…"_ she thought as her mother's voice played through her mind. Pushing some hair behind her ear she watched the as the female made her way towards her.

"Chill, Aiden." The female customer said to her male companion. "It's not the end of the world because we ask for help." Rolling her eyes she smiled at the shopkeeper. "Excuse me." she asked, removing her sunglasses from her face and placed them on her head.

"Yes how can I help you?" the blonde smiled at the young woman. _'Have I met her before? She looks familiar.'_ she thought to herself. Pushing her lips together she tried to remember. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"I'm sure I would recognize someone as pretty as you." The brunette replied as many images played out in her head. Chuckling to herself, she tried to push these thoughts away to the back of her mind…but this girl was definitely her type. '_Keep your thoughts to yourself Davies…you're here on business.'_ "And it's funny you ask Shoppe girl."

"_I'm pretty sure you can't hold alcohol." The brunette said rubbing a towel through her wet hair._

"_I'm so sorry about your clothes, Ash." The young blonde's face flushed at the memory of the evening's events. "You would think my best friends would know not to give me any." She shook her head._

"_They're just clothes…Spence." the brunette waved the blonde off. Sitting on the bed next to her, she placed a gentle hand on her knee. "As long as my favorite Shoppe girl is ok." She smiled sweetly at her._

"Huh?" the brunette was jarred out of her memory. "I'm sorry, my mind goes adrift sometimes." She shook her head wildly.

"No problem, Shoppe girl." The girl replied as she leaned against the counter. "Can you tell me where I can find a tow truck?" she asked rocking back and forth on her feet, pushing her hands into her pocket. "My car broke down a ways down... and to make my day completely perfect," rolling her eyes. "neither one of us can find a signal." She motioned towards the dark haired male that was still looking for something.

"Yeah, cell service is pretty crappy around here." the young shopkeeper smirked, knowing the customer wouldn't like her answer. "Well, that's simple. My brother Glen can help you out-"

Before she can finish, the other girl cut her off.

"Great." The brunette smiled excitedly.

"But..."

"I hate buts." The young traveler said dropping her head.

"He's in town visiting his girlfriend." The clerk said, biting her lip. She still couldn't place where she had seen this girl before.

"Well, can't you call him back or call someone else?"

"Sorry, small town. He's the only tower for miles... And we can't very well call him back, he hasn't had a vacation in months." She shrugged dejectedly.

"Argg." The brunette groaned. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"We've got a little B&B next door…" She said pointing at the house a little ways down the road.

"We may have a few rooms for you and your boyfriend to stay in until my brother gets back."

"You think Aiden is my boyfriend?" She chuckled and let a half smile creep on her face as she turned back to the young store clerk. "Yeah, he's not my type….Good one, though."

Releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding, the young blonde smiled. '_Relax Spencer it's not the first time you've seen a pretty girl'._

"So, how long is he gonna be gone?" the brunette sighed.

"I don't think you're going to like my answer to that?" The clerk replied smiling.

"Damn it." Throwing her head back in frustration, she called to her friend, who was now several aisles away. "Aiden!"

"Yeah?" the boy said walking over to them.

"We're so screwed..." the young traveler sighed and removed her sunglasses from her head and began to chew on one of the ends. "She said that her brother is the only tower within miles."

"You're kidding me." he replied looking at her in disbelief. "Tell me you're not serious, Ash?"

"As a heart attack." The girl answered him as the bell dang once more.

"Hey Spence how's business today?"

"Hey Clay!" She said smiling at her brother. "Slow as usual…we may have few guests tonight at the B&B." She nodded at the two.

"Well, we've got plenty of room." He pulled something from out behind the counter.

"You guys can follow him over and he'll get you set up… I mean, that is if you guys want to stay."

"What other choice do we have, Ash?"

"What are we going to do with all our stuff in the car?"

"I can give you a ride back to your car, if you'd like." Clay offered. "It is kind of old school… I think it was new in the 50's but it gets me around here." He smirked.

"Thanks Bro."

'_Maybe if I stick close to her the Forisya will show up'._ "Well…" losing her train of thought._'What the hell are you doing Davies? You're so over your head.'_

_**3 months ago…**_

"_Research mode?" The young Wicca asked as she, and the rest of the Scoobies, listened to the girl recount her dream._

"_Definitely." the former watcher said as he removed his glasses, pulling out a handkerchief and began to clean them. "And you say that it was after this young girl?"_

"_Don't know why though…she kept calling her _Auximoa?" _the brunette questioned._

"_That's something, G Man." Faith said even though she was just as confused as the rest of them._

"_Currently... yes it is. Still gives us little to go on." He placed his glasses back on his face._

"_Wills find us everything you can on these…baddies."_

"_We don't know for sure that this…"the redhead looked at her best friend_

"_Oxymoron." the blonde blurted out._

"_Big word, B." Faith laughed softly._

"_Thanks." The blonde smiled brightly at her as she placed a gentle hand on her knee._

"_Auximoa." The English man rolled his eyes, frustrated with the two Slayers._

"_Umm…this is all completely fascinating, but what does this have to do with me…" the young brunette asked them._

"_You see kid, it's like-"_

"_I'm not a kid."_

"_Whatever…" Faith waved her off. "It's like this. B here was the original Slayer."_

"_Great I got that... Willow got me caught up on slayer History 101. What I want to know is what this dream thing is about?"_

"_As Willow said, we'll do some research…" Giles put his hand in his pocket and sat down on the edge of the table. "Perhaps we could find this _Auximoa_, it must be something that needs protecting if…"_

"_Ah ha!" the redhead bellowed from her seat at the table causing everyone to look at her. "Oh sorry…" she said sheepishly embarrassed by her outburst. "I just found something on the Forisya." looking up she relayed what she had just read. "It says here that it's not a demon but a God."_

"_Another Glory?" Buffy rolled her eyes. "So this Auximoa is like a key or something…like Dawn?"_

"_Not exactly." Willow looked down and started reading again. "It's actually more powerful than Glory was. Auximoa is said to be its mortal enemy and the only thing that can kill Forisya." flipping through the pages of a new book, the Wicca found what she had been looking for. "A fairy?"_

"_No need for name calling, Red." Faith replied to the young witch._

"_No…" rolling her eyes. "This…this Auximoa thing we're looking for..." she waved her hand out in front of her. "It's a Fairy."_

"_So you're telling us, Will, the thing…this..."Buffy furrowed her eyebrows._

"_Auximoa." Faith said helping her out._

"_This Auximoa is a Fairy and does what, like... a little Irish jigs?"_

"_Sounds to me, B. It holds the fate of the world in its hands?" Faith answered_

"_That's about covers it." Willow confirmed._

"_Interesting…does it say what this Fairy does?" the former watcher asked._

"_That's as far as the book goes…Its really vague…like someone didn't want that kind of information getting into the wrong hands." _

"_Fascinating." The well-spoken Englishman replied as he began to pace._

"_You're gonna wear a whole in the floor, Giles." The blonde haired Slayer noticed as she was getting annoyed watching him pace back and forth._

"_Right." He stopped moving._

"_Why don't we send the newbie to find the Auximoa…" Faith said as she rubbed her hand on her favorite leathers. "I…mean she's the only one who knows what it looks like… I'm sure Red can find her, she must have a name."_

"_Excellent idea, Faith." the former watcher acknowledged. "What do you say? You up for your first test on the field?"_

"Well what, Ash?" Aiden urged her.

"Nothing." Ashley shook her head and waved him off.

"Ok. Just let me get my keys and we'll go." The brown haired boy told Clay.

"Cool." He turned back to his friend. "Ash, you coming?"

"No, I think I'm going to talk to…" she spun around towards the young blonde. "I didn't catch your name."

"Spencer." The blonde replied, dipping her head as a blush began to rise on her face.

"Spencer." She repeated smiling. "I'm gonna stay and have a chat with Spencer." She winked at the blonde before turning to her friend Aiden.

"Suit yourself." He said, following Clay out.

Hearing the door finally close, she looked at her. Opening her mouth, she was about to speak but stopped when she saw the girl do the exactly same thing. "Go ahead."

"You first." Ashley said smiling at her.

"Okay." after a second of nervous laughter. "So what brings you to our small town?" Spencer asked, hoping that she didn't notice her earlier blush.

"We were on our way to a concert." The brunette replied rolling her shoulders, she knew she was slightly lying but she couldn't tell her why she was here exactly. "Just passing through you know?"

"Sounds like fun." Spencer pushed some of her hair behind her ear.

"Oh, it was totally going to rock but… it looks like we're going to miss that now."

"Sorry." She frowned.

"It's fine. My manager is gonna kill me for missing it but she'll deal." Ashley turned around so that her back was against the counter. "So, Spencer, do you have a boyfriend in this small town of yours?" the young traveler asked absentmindedly.

"No...my girlfriend and I just broke up." The blonde frowned, she didn't want to think about what had happened a few weeks ago.

"Girlfriend?" Ashley spun around, trying to sound surprised, but she kind of had figured this out earlier watching the blonde blushing and checking her out. "You're..."

"Gay." Spencer stared at her, trying to gauge her reaction. "Yeah."

"Cool."

"You're not freaked out by that?" Spencer wondered as she nervously pushed some hair behind her ear.

"No." the other girl said, standing up straight. "Should I be?…you're not gonna turn into a zombie or something are you?" Chuckling she replied. "No it's just that… when most people find out they…"

"Run for the hills?" Ashley grinned.

"Yeah."

"You'll find out soon enough Spencer…" she leaned closer and gave the shop keeper her best smile. "I'm not like most people."

"I think I'm getting that." Spencer smiled

"Hmm." Ashley frowned putting her head in her hand as she looked at the girl.

"What?" Spencer chuckled, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"Nothing." The brunette shook her head. "You've got a nice shop here."

"Thanks…" the blonde replied, not really sure on what she should say next.

"They sure don't make them like this anymore." Ashley looked around the shop. "Especially not in L.A. It's very homey." There was a pause. "Why would someone be stupid enough to dump you?" The girl suddenly blurted out.

"Umm." Spencer felt awkward talking to a stranger about her personal life.

"Don't answer that." The brunette smiled sympathetically at her. "Sometimes I get what I like to call word vomit."

"It's ok…It must be contagious, I get that to sometimes." Spencer gave her a wary smile. "The truth is, I'm still kinda raw." She was fighting back the tears that were welling up her eyes.

"Its fine…" the other girl interrupted her.

"No I need to get this out."

TBC…


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_**A month ago…**_

_Taking her usual seat, Spencer sat next to her friend Bella in study hall as she did every day. However, something was different today; the look on her friend's face told her just that. Without a word, she watched as the brown haired girl slid a note towards her. Taking the note, she let her bag fall to the ground. "What's this?" She whispered as she opened the note and read it._

'_Is it true about you and Carmen?' the note read._

_Spencer looked confused, and the blonde scrambled to pull out a pen and rushed out her reply._

'_What about me and Carmen?' she wrote and pushed it back to her friend. Gauging her reaction, she could tell something was definitely off. As Bella was writing her back, Spencer was beginning to think that she didn't really want to know. Bella handed her the note back._

'_Alex was going to the restroom in between periods. Heard someone in the restroom stall, two girls. Alex says she knew it was Carmen but she didn't recognize the other voice right away -'_

_Stopping mid sentence, Spencer looked up at her friend and tried to keep her voice as low __as possible despite her anger rising._

"_So you're telling me Carmen was in the stall with another girl?"_ _Bella nodded. Spencer wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to the question she was about to ask. Before she lost her nerve she muttered a single word._

"_Who?" Bella glanced at the teacher who was eyeing them both suspiciously and wrote down on the piece of paper._

_Spencer's eyes started to water as she read the name on the note. 'Sam'_

"_Spencer, are you OK?" Bella whispered as the teacher was clearing her throat loudly._

_Without a word to her friend, the blonde shot her hand up._

"_Yes Ms. Carlin?"_

"_Um..." She said trying to think of a reason, any reason to get out of that room. "I need to go to the restroom." She said halfway standing. "Can I use the hall pass?" Seeing the teacher nod, she quickly made her way up to the front of the room to grab the pass. She burst through the door not knowing exactly where she was going. 'I just need to get out of there'. Tears streaming down her face, she ran towards her locker. As she was about to round the corner she froze at the sound of a familiar voice, precisely the one she didn't want to hear at that moment. Right there, around the corner, stood her girlfriend and best friend._

"_So, am I coming over tonight?" Carmen cooed as she was standing in front of Sam who was leaning against her locker._

"_What about Spencer?" the other girl asked, running her hand along Carmen's arm._

"_What about her?" She exclaimed, twirling some of her hair around her finger. "She's so hot and cold… It's like she doesn't even want me anymore." Leaning in, she kissed Sam on the lips _

"_You're the one I want."_

"_I just hate sneaking around on her." Sam said playing with the hem of the brunette's shirt. _

"_She's my best friend… you're her girlfriend… this is just all wrong…we've been friends since birth." she sighed "I don't know. I just don't want her to get hurt. She's like my sister… All of them, they're gonna hate me."_

"_Sam… baby, they won't hate you." She said pulling her close to her. "They won't even know… Who's gonna tell them? I'm not...are you?" She said trailing her finger up and down her arm._

"_No…But." She said closing her eyes._

"_But what?"_

"_I don't…" Sam sighed, her heart breaking as she was thinking about what she was doing to her best friend._

"_Give me one good reason." Carmen leaned down, kissing her neck, somehow trying to persuade her._

"_I...uh…" Sam licked her lips as a moan escaped her mouth._

"_That sounds like a reason for us not to stop." Carmen grinned as she continued to kiss her neck. "You want it, I want it…why stop a good thing?" she let her hand run up her shirt._

"_Stop…" Sam pushed her back a little, which made the other girl pout. "We can't do this here." The girl pulled on a loop in her pants._

"_Spencer, there you are." Bella said finding her friend. "Mrs. Porter sent me to check on you. Are you OK?" she asked trying to catch her breath._

"_Shit!" Carmen jumped away from Sam._

"_It's true." Spencer whispered, unable to hold back her tears anymore._

"_Are you kidding me?" Bella stared at Carmen and Sam furiously, when they heard footsteps down the corridor, as their friend Alex was heading towards them._

"_I knew there was a reason I never liked you." Alex sneered at Carmen as she stepped into the scene unfolding before her. "And you…" she turned to Sam. "I've never been more ashamed to call you my best friend… No." She held her hand, stopping Sam who was about to reply. "We grew up together… mud pies in our backyards…girl scouts…slumber parties…birthdays." Glaring at them, she said. "This is the worst kind of betrayal."_

"_I know." Sam whispered. "I never meant for this to happen…I…I…"_

"_You what? Fell in love? Ha!" She said throwing her head back and laughing. "Pathetic...that's just pathetic… You could have at least had enough respect for Spencer to tell her." She put her hand on the small of her friend's back as the blonde girl was now sobbing. "And as far as I'm concerned you're dead to me." She glared at her, not caring that Sam was also starting to cry._

"_Spencer, I'm so sorry..."_

"_Just leave her alone, Sam." Bella gritted through her teeth._

"_I never meant for this to happen." She wiped her own tears away. "Please believe me." She was sobbing uncontrollably as she ran away from them._

"_Whatever…you're really gonna wish you hadn't listened to your friends, Spencer." Carmen was trying to get to the blonde, but her friends were protectively surrounding her. "Who else is gonna love a loser like you in this town? Huh?"_

"_Carmen, this is your last chance before I kick your ass." Alex seethed. "Leave NOW!" her anger was flaring. With a roll of her eyes, Carmen gave them one last look before turning around and striding away down the hall. "Spence, can I give you a ride home?" Alex offered, trying to calm herself down. "I'm sure Bella can explain to Mrs. Porter." Bella nodded. _

"_Yeah. When school's over, I'll be right over." The brown haired girl said gently and hugged her friend, dropping a kiss on the top of her head._

_Looking out of her office door, the woman got that tingly feeling down her spine…the tingle that only happened when evil was around. Silently closing her door, Buffy_ _Summers went to make a few calls. Her new job as a counselor at Three Rivers High School wasn't going to be as boring as she thought._

"I'm sorry." The brunette replied after hearing what had happened to Spencer. She reached up to the girl's face and gently wiped away the tears that had been falling down her cheeks.

"It's fine." She gave her a weak smile. "We were starting to lose that spark anyway." She added with a sigh.

For the first time in her life, Ashley was truly speechless. Everything the shopkeeper had told her was truly breaking her heart. She wanted to say something wise that would make her feel better, but she knew she was better off keeping her mouth shut.

"Thanks for letting me vent…I really needed that."

"It was my pleasure." They were silent for a minute "She's wrong, you know."

"Who is?" the blonde said confused.

"Your ex." She smiled at her. "She shouldn't have asked 'who's going to love a loser?'" She said with a high-pitched voice and air quotes. "What she should have said was 'who wouldn't love someone as perfect as you.'" Ashley grinned at Spencer playfully.

"Ash, let's go, we got our stuff." Aiden said walking in.

"Ugh." She said groaning. "Boys…always know how to ruin a perfect moment." She turned to Spencer "So I'll see you later?"

"Yeah...definitely." the blonde nodded and she watched her walk out. Sighing, she went back to labeling the products. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts of her new friend that she didn't even realize that she was completely done pricing the new items. "Way to go Spence! You just met her and you're already obsessed with her." She stood up and was making her way back to the counter when the bell went off once again. "Carmen what are you doing here?" sighing she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I wanted to see you." The young woman said walking towards her.

"Well I'm working." she replied coldly to her, although she knew that her working never used to be a problem before. She just wasn't in the mood for another argument. Moreover, Carmen was the last person she wanted to see…especially after what she did…

"I know it's just…"

"Carmen, I don't have time for this, we're done…" placing her pricing gun behind the counter.

"Now go be before I call my dad." She didn't want to do it, but the threat of her police chief father would scare anyone.

"Would you just think about it?" Walking slowly towards her, she placed her hand on her cheek. "I want you back… I… Sam was just… I don't know she came on to me." She paused, trying anything to get Spencer to believe her. "I never wanted her."

"You looked like you wanted her to me." She snapped jerking her head away from the offending appendage.

"So are you just gonna to listen to your friends? Spencer I…" dropping her hand feeling slightly jaded.

The two of them were so consumed that they didn't even notice the ding of the bell, or the girl standing next to one of the shelves, her arms crossed.

"Don't…" the shopkeeper said glaring at her ex. "Don't say it… if you loved me, you wouldn't have slept with Sam… she was my best friend for God sake, and you slept with her!"

"I…we didn't sleep together."

"Not yet." Spencer shook her head "And anyway why should I believe you? You both lied to me for months. And I had to find out on my Birthday of all days."

"Come on Spencer, it was a mistake… How many times do I have to apologize?"

"Till you turn blue in the face…" She spat fighting the angry tears. "I've never been hurt so much by anyone."

"Just don't give up on us."

Ashley had heard enough. She walked to the pair and stood firmly before Carmen.

"Too bad you beat me to the punch." Gasping, Spencer turned to see her new "friend" walking up to them. "When did you-" she said being cut off by Carmen.

"Store's closed!" Carmen shouted angrily at the intruder.

"Damn, I guess my teacher in elementary was right I suck at spelling." Ashley smirked "And here I thought closed started with a c." She pointed at the open sign in the store window.

"Well come back later, she's busy!"

Looking at Spencer, Ashley saw her wiping her tears away. She didn't know what it was, but something was drawing her to this girl and she didn't want to see her hurting like this; she had to protect her, though she didn't know why. So without a second thought, she ignored the other girl and walked over to the blonde. "Is that what you want Spence? Do you want me to leave?" she intertwined her hand in hers and winking at her.

TBC...


	4. Chapter 3

"No." Spencer sniffed and smiled gratefully at her.

"See…" Tilting her head, she looked at Spencer, completely ignoring Carmen's scowl. "What's her name?"

"Carmen." She glared at her ex.

"See Carmen, my girlfriend doesn't want me to leave so… whatever…" Ashley snaked her arm around the younger girl's waist for added effect.

"Girlfriend?" Carmen questioned…not realizing her ex had moved on so fast.

"Yeah… so if you have anything to say to me you can say it in front of her." Spencer said interjecting.

"When…. Did? This isn't over." Carmen replied as she stormed out of the store.

"Oh my God." Spencer chuckled as she turned to the girl. "Thank you so much, you didn't have to…" Before she could finish, she felt soft lips on hers. The moment was over before it had started, but it wouldn't be one she would forget.

"That should give her something to think about." Ashley giggled, tilting her head towards the open window.

Turning her head, Spencer could see her ex walk away. "How did you know she would look back?"

"Been there, done that…"

"Oh…" She gasped. "You're…" She said as her eyes widen at the sudden realization.

"There she is." Ashley grinned "I guess you don't get to use your gaydar much here do you?"

Shaking her head, the blonde blushed and looked down at her feet. Biting her lower lip, she noticed that their hands were still intertwined, but it didn't last. She missed it the second the brunette slowly slid her hand out of hers. "So what did you need?" She cleared her throat, trying to change the subject.

"Huh?" Ashley's mind had drifted away for a minute.

"The store… You came back here for a reason?"

"Oh right...The boys are boring me… and your mom is kind of too old for me to hang out with so that leaves the lovely Spencer."

"You want to hang out with me? Why?" the blonde hung up her apron on the back of the door. It was time to close up the store.

"Do you really have to ask?" the brunette raised an eyebrow.

"I think I just did." pulling out the moneybag from under the counter.

"Can I be frank with you?" the traveler said asked.

"Please do." Spencer started counting the money that was in the register.

"Well…" the brunette hopped up on to the counter. "It's simple. You're hot."

"Excuse me?" the girl stopped mid count and stared at Ashley.

"Oh come on… can you honestly tell me no one has ever called you that?" From the look on Spencer's face, she could tell the answer was no. "Well you are… And I was hoping maybe you'd show me where I can find the fun in this town. Plus there's something about you… feels like I've met you before, in another life, you know?"

Looking up from what she was doing, the blonde tilted her head, trying to decide on whether or not she should tell her what she was thinking.

"Okaaay." Ashley said drawing it out. "I guess it's just me!" She hopped down from the counter.

"No, no, no." Spencer called her back "Honestly..." She didn't know where to begin, running her hand through her hair she said. "Are we still being frank?" Ashley nodded in reply. "I do know what you mean. I get that same feeling about you...actually, I kind of had a dream about you."

"Really?" Ashley frowned.

"Kinda... I didn't really see your face or anything… It was as if you were saving me or something. I know, it's silly really…I just met you…the kiss from earlier…I know it was just an act. But… it didn't feel like a first kiss." She said shaking her head, fighting to find the words. "It felt like the-"

"Millionth time." Ashley finished the sentence for her.

"Yeah." Spencer bit her lower lip as she tried to gauge her reaction. Ashley couldn't help herself. She leaned in once again, and placed her lips on hers. Cupping her cheek with one hand, she pulled her closer with the other, feeling like a jolt of electricity was running through her body. The kiss intensified and they had to break apart to breathe.

"Whoa." They both said in unison.

Opening her mouth to speak, Ashley was stopped by the ringing phone. The shopkeeper held up a finger to the young traveler, as if to say hold that thought, as she rushed to answer it.

"Non-stop Shoppe…oh hi mom." Spencer glanced over at Ashley and mouthed a silent 'sorry'.

"Yeah she is...I don't know actually…" she started chewing on her lower lip "Huh… sorry mom… I know. Lock up and put the money away. Ok…Mom!..I love you too." She finally hung up the phone with her back still turned to Ashley. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, somehow trying to calm the beating of her heart.

"So I was wondering…" She said turning around. "I need to shower…If you want, after, we could go to the…" she paused, lost in her thoughts "And then we could go to…" after a while, she realized Ashley was giggling at her "What?" she frowned, feeling slightly hurt by the other girl's attitude. "Ok, I get it you really don't want to hang out."

Ashley was trying hard to stifle her laughter, "No it's not that it's… it's just that you didn't finish one sentence."

Looking at her with disbelief, Spencer replayed the last few minutes in her head. Slapping her hand to her forehead, she began to blush. "I'm so mortified."

"I'm going to take a wild guess here." Ashley gently took the blonde's hands from her reddened face. "Shower for you?" she pointed at her. "Dinner and a movie for us." She motioned between them two.

"How did you guess?"

"Well, aside from your little store here, those are the only things around. At least, from what I can tell." Ashley chuckled.

"Right." The blonde girl glanced up past her to the clock. "Well, we better get going then." Minutes later, the store was closed and they were headed towards her house that was on the other side of the Bed and Breakfast, four houses away from the store. As they walked down the gravel driveway, Spencer felt a hand slip into hers. Looking down at it, she didn't bother to remove it, something about it just felt right. "Would you like a tour of my house?" She asked the brunette as they got closer to her house.

"I'd like that." Ashley smiled "So have you lived here all your life?"

"Yeah… I have…me, and my three…two friends Bella and Alex grew up together…But I want to get out of here someday. It may look like your average town…" She paused, turning to look out across her yard. "But some strange stuff has been going on here."

"Like what?" the brunette followed her gaze. This was exactly why she was here. She didn't care if the Powers That Be had warned her with their stupid magic tricks and dreams of impending danger. She couldn't stay away, and hide in a hole that went against everything she was.

"Pure evil." Spencer as they walked up the stairs to the house.

Ashley shivered and considered the girl's words. She remembered the tingling sensation she'd felt when she'd seen Carmen at the store. She had immediately felt something else as well, some kind of trigger, like she just had to protect that Spencer girl from her.

The house itself was something you would see in the movies. It was a two-story house painted a dull yellow with two white columns on both sides of the stairs. The porch held a chain swing bench that hung in the far right corner. Directly across, in the other corner, sat two old-fashioned rocking chairs.

"Besides, this small town is getting a little old." Spencer added as she made sure that she wiped her feet on the _Welcome_ mat that lay in front of the door. Opening the door, she allowed Ashley to go in first.

"I know it sounds a little cliché … but I want to see the world…at least the country. You know?" She said sighing as she shut the door. "So this is the living room. The kitchen is on the other side of this wall." She pointed to the wall that stood behind the living room. "And the dining room just adjacent to that." Still holding her hand, she led her up the staircase. Spencer looked back, trying to figure out what was on Ashley's mind.

"Wait." The brunette suddenly stopped her. "Is that…" she turned towards the pictures on the wall. "Is that you?" she noticed the picture of a baby in a bathtub.

"Oh God." Spencer covered her face in shame. "Okay, now I'm mortified…I also remember the reason why I wanted my mom to take that down." She could feel the heat rush to her cheeks.

"I think it's adorable." Ashley grinned. "How old were you?"

"I think ...a year an a half." she chuckled and pulled on the other girl's hand "Can we continue?" the blonde shopkeeper replied as she was trying to get moving again.

"Yeah, yeah." The girl nodded. _'She's really making this hard for me.'_

"I'm not going to live that one down am I?" Spencer chuckled as they were reaching the top of the stairs.

"Not a chance." The brunette winked at her, which caused her to blush once again.

"This is my brothers' room. In the corner is our parent's room" she paused, taking a deep breath in, and walked down the little hallway that led to her room. She pushed the door open, her heart racing a little "And here's my room."

Walking past her, Ashley took a look around. "Nice...I would never have guessed you would have such an eclectic music collection." She let her fingers run across the many albums.

"Yeah I know some of them are lame, but I can't help it. I love music." Spencer walked behind her, taking a deep breath. She didn't realize, 'till now, how good the girl in front of her smelled.

"Make yourself at home, I'm going to take a quick shower if you don't mind before our…" she realized she was not really sure what to call what they were doing.

"Date." Ashley nodded and smiled at her as she finished her sentence.

"Yeah, date."

"Take your time. I'll be here." Spencer nodded shyly in reply and made her way to what Ashley assumed was her bathroom, while she took a closer look around at the bedroom. There were pictures of Spencer's family on her dresser and also ones of what she assumed were her friends. The room was a dull purple with white trim, along the wall laid a full size canopy bed with a dark green comforter with matching pillows. There was a sheer green fabric hanging in a criss-cross fashion above the bed, on each of the corners of her four post bed in. In the corner, close to the hallway, was a medium size computer desk that was a deep mahogany, and across from that was a walk-in closet that seemed to hold a bathroom on the other side of it. Ashley made sure that she could hear water running, pulled her phone out and dialed.

"Hello. Summers residence."

"Wills, is Buffy around." She said glancing back towards the bathroom.

"Ashley… you and Aiden made it safely there?"

"Yeah…" she pushed back the curtain. The _Big Bad_ is definitely here, I can feel it, definitely tingling." She closed her eyes and thought about the day her life had changed completely.

_**5 months ago…**_

_It had been weeks since she had, had the dream and Ashley didn't know, or didn't want to deal with it. Looking up at the ceiling of her apartment, she tried to follow the pattern that was held in it. It was useless. Sitting up, she sighed and let her legs hang off the edge of her bed. Reaching for the glass that sat on her nightstand, she took a long pull from it letting the liquid slowly burn its way down her throat. Being a rock star's daughter certainly had its advantages; nobody ever asked questions when she'd go to a liquor store. Setting the glass back on the table, she leaned back to let the muscle in her back stretch, there was no way she was going anywhere today. Looking over her shoulder, she_ _noticed her playmate from last night was still there._

"_Hey," she reached over and shook the girl awake. "Checkout time." she stood up and padded her way to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, she pushed some of her unruly hair out of her face. "Still look hot, Davies." she smirked at herself. Hearing the apartment door slam, she knew she was alone again. She reached over and turned the hot and cold on her shower testing temperature. The brunette pulled her hand back and grabbed a towel to dry the excess water off. She was just about to remove her clothes when she heard a familiar ring coming from her cell. "Damn it Aiden, I'm not in the mood." She cut the water off and left the bathroom making her way down the narrow hallway that led to the kitchen. Picking her phone of the counter, the brunette pressed the button and placed the phone against her ear._

"_Your on, I can go for kicking your ass today." The girl thought as she placed her phone down. Ordinarily her best friend usually gave her a run for her money…but lately, at least over the last few days, she had gotten the better of him; she just chalked it off to her new diet. The young girl smiled and ran back to her bathroom so she could have a quick shower before heading down to the gym to train with her friend._

_Twenty minutes later, the young brunette walked through the doors of the gym. Running her hand through her still damp hair, Ashley looked around for her best friend. Spotting him at the punching bag, she made her way over to him. "Who's your friend, Aiden?" placing her bag down as she put her hair in a ponytail._

"_Oh hey, Ash." The boy smiled going over to hug her. "This is Kennedy." He motioned towards the girl still holding the bag. "Kennedy, this is Ashley."_

"_Nice to meet you." The young Latina said holding out her hand. "Or not." She added, noticing that the other girl wasn't gonna make any attempt to greet her._

"_So are we gonna do this or what?" Ashley muttered, ignoring Kennedy and looking at her friend._

"_Actually, Ash," The boy let a smile creep onto his face. "I was telling Kennedy here how you've been kicking my ass lately so she said she would take my place." He grinned mischievously. _

"_You know I gotta keep this face pretty as long as I can."_

"_Whatever." She rolled her eyes "We doing this?" she was already annoyed, and hungover from the previous night._

"_Yeah let me just go get my gloves on." Kennedy jogged over to a redhead that was sitting on one of the mini bleachers that were in the gym._

"_You realize I'm gonna kick her ass right." The brunette said to her best friend._

"_I wouldn't be to sure, Ash." The boy said with a smirk._

"_Whatever." The girl shook her head as she began to stretch. "This is gonna be quick." she looked at the girl across the room._

_The other girl was standing a few feet away and what appeared to be her girlfriend was helping her put on her gloves._

"_So what do you think?" the redhead said looking up at her._

"_Oh she's one. I can feel her." She nodded. "She has no idea what's happening to her." The Latina pushed her hand fully into the glove. "I knew something was up when her friend said she just started kicking his ass when they spared."_

"_We knew that we would find them everywhere. I'll let Buffy know as soon as I can. She's going to want to know we have a new slayer."_

"_Did she and Faith get the girls settled in Woodlake?" the brunette said as she began to stretch._

"_Yeah… she said the girls are driving Faith crazy. But the town is quiet, not much activity. LA is definitely not what those girls need." she raked her hand through her hair. "I'm really glad she sent us together to find the newbies."_

"_Plus lots of alone time." The brunette winked as she pulled one of her legs behind her to stretch it out._

"_There's that." The redhead pushed some of her hair behind her ear. She tried not to let __her girlfriend see the blush was slowly creeping up her face, but she knew it was a moot point._

"_Oh and… she said she found a job at a high school two towns over…" Sitting up proudly because she had remembered what her best friend had told her. "Three Rivers."_

"_Cool, never can be too sure when a Slayer's gonna pop up." Kennedy started bouncing on her toes. "Wish me luck."_

"_Luck." The redhead replied as she leaned in for a kiss. "Oh and honey?" She yelled stopping her mid stride._

"_Yeah."_

"_Go easy on her…she's new." The young witch replied sheepishly._

"_Come on Wills, you know I like it rough." She laughed and jogged on to the mat knowing that her girlfriend had just turned a deep shade of crimson._

_For a minute, each girl just stood sizing each other up, both of them convinced they were about to beat the hell out of the other. But only one knew what it was like to be a Slayer._

"_Alright girls, let's keep it clean." Aiden said as he stepped in-between his best friend and the girl he just met._

"_Aiden, just get out of the way." Ashley glared at him._

"_Fine, don't say I didn't warn ya." He backed away with a smug look on his face._ _He barely had moved away when the two girls bumped their gloves and started circling each other, still sizing the other up. Neither one of them was willing to make the first move._

"_Come on!" Aiden yelled from the bleachers._

"_He's right on kid, hit me." Kennedy teased her. That was something Kennedy knew how to do very well._

"_I'm not a kid! I'm probably the same age as you." Ashley lunged toward the other girl, only to have her dodging her attack._

"_Yeah well, I say tomato, you say _tomahto_." Kennedy smirked at the brunette as she was bouncing left to right on her feet. "Only difference is…I just didn't fall on my face." She raised a mocking eyebrow at her._

"_Whatever." The other girl said taking her stance again. "Not a music lesson. Just fight."_

"_That's were your wrong." The other brunette threw her first punch, which connected __with her side. "This is a lesson, the… first..." She hit her again with a sidekick. "To begin your new life." She attacked her with a jab again._

"_What are you boring on about?" Ashley blocked her jab and answered with her own sidekick._

"_Nice one." Kennedy held her side and backed away a few feet. "No one's ever got one in. I guess play time's over." The younger slayer said tilting her head._

"_You were playing? I wasn't having any fun." Ashley rushed to her with a series of punches and kicks, thinking she was catching her off guard. Kennedy was just bidding her time, waiting for that one mistake and she knew the girl would definitely make it. She used to make that same mistake with Buffy and Faith. She was younger and cockier. Just like the girl attacking her._

'_There.' Kennedy thought to herself. 'Gotcha!' Dodging a straight punch that was coming her way, the young slayer quickly grabbed the newbie's arm and before she knew what had happened, Kennedy had managed to use all of her own momentum against her. With a quick twist of her hips Kennedy swung her left arm up, colliding with Ashley's neck forcing her to the ground. "Had enough?"_

"_Kennedy sweetie, let her up." Willow asked as she joined them on the mat._

"_You're lucky I'm a sucker for redheads." Kennedy smirked to Ashley as she released her from the arm bar she held her in and walked to her girlfriend. _

"_What the hell was that?" Ashley got back on her feet, looking furious. "We were supposed to be sparing." She stepped into her personal space._

"_Easy…easy…" Willow said standing in between them, hands up to keep them apart. "Kennedy did get out of hand…" the redhead glanced back at the Slayer, but she wasn't all surprised that she had taken advantage of the newbie just as Buffy and Faith did to her many times. "I guess she decided to start your training early."_

"_Training for what?"_

"_A what!" Ashley said looking at them incredulously._

"_A Slayer." Willow replied. "That's what Kennedy…she…she was kinda giving your first lessons as a Slayer…she's kinda like the brigade leader." She smiled sweetly at her girlfriend. _

"_Anyway, I know we may sound crazy."_

"_Can't get anything past you." Ashley rolled her eyes._ _Putting a gentle arm over her protective girlfriend, the young witch continued. "We want to offer you a chance…to train…and, and to control you power."_

"_So I can be the best Slayer I can be." She shook her head and rolled her eyes again. _"_What's in it for you?"_

"_I'm pretty sure you mean what's in it for you." The witch's girlfriend spoke up. "I'm sure you're dying for a little payback after what just happened." Kennedy raised an eyebrow at her. _

"_I wasn't lying when I said no one's ever got a shot in…just think what you could do if you trained with us."_

"_Look…" the Wicca said noticing the girl was wavering. "Here's where we'll be staying, if you change your mind." She handed her a piece of paper with the information on it._

"_I'll think about it." The brunette replied._

"_Prepare yourself to get your ass kicked again." The Slayer said as she hooked her arm through her girlfriend's as they turned and headed towards the bleachers to retrieve their things before leaving the gym._

"_Kennedy." The redhead scolded._

"_What? Too much?"_

"_Nope. I think you just pushed her in the right direction." The witch said as they made their way through the doors._

_TBC..._


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Thanks to those that are continuing to read, you gives give me the fuel I need to keep writing. That being said on to the next chapter.

"Hey, it's Buffy. Did you find the... Auximoa?"

"I'm…I'm not sure, Willow's locator spell…"

"What? What is it?"

"I'm not sure it worked…It lead me to a human if it's supposed to be a fairy or whatever… it's in human form."

"Wow, I'm so déjà vuing." Buffy sighed.

"I think that-" Was all Ashley could say before the doorbell rang.

"Can you get that?" She heard Spencer yell from the shower.

"Sure." She replied with the same volume. "I'll check in later." She whispered in the phone and hung up. Pushing her phone in her pocket, she made her way back down the stairs to open the door, behind which two brown-haired women were standing with their back to her.

"Took you…" One of the girls trailed off, finally turning around and noticing Ashley. "Who the hell are you and why are you in the Carlin's house?"

"Chill Alex." Bella said to her friend holding her back. "Don't mind her, she's all bark and no bite." She smiled "She gets very protective of all of her friends… I'm Bella and this one here is Alex." She thumbed to her friend as she extended her hand.

"Ashley." She shook the girl's hand, trying her best not to crush it with her Slayer's strength.

"Nice to meet you…you're not from around here are you? We practically know everyone who lives here."

"No just passing through…long story short, Spencer set me up with a room till I can get a tow."

"That still doesn't explain what you're doing here?" Alex stated, suspicious.

"Behave Alex." She glared at her friend. "May we come in?"

"Sure, I guess." Ashley shrugged as she let them in. "Spencer's upstairs. I guess she forgot you guys were coming over…I don't blame her after that whole Carmen incident."

"Wait…" Alex said moving forward on the couch. "Carmen…what did that bitch want?"

"Well..." the brunette glanced towards the staircase.

Following her eyes, Alex frowned "She wanted Spencer."

"Yeah…" she sat across from the two friends.

"I swear, if she doesn't leave her alone..."

"Alex sweetie, it won't solve anything if you end up in jail." Bella gently rubbed her knee, trying to soothe her. Ashley noticed their exchange, and tried to break the ice. "So how long have you two been dating?"

The two girls looked at each other and suddenly broke out into a fit of laughter. "Us?" They said in between laughs.

"Ok, guess I was wrong."

"I'd say so." Spencer chuckled as she walked down the stairs. "Although, sometimes I wonder...Can you guys forgive me, it's been a totally weird day…and I forgot you were coming over."

Coming down from the laughter, Bella was the first to speak. "No problem, Spence." Pausing for a minute, she tried to think of a way to formulate her question. "Um…"

"So we're going to talk about you now, mind if we step outside for a minute?"

"Subtle Al..." Bella hit her on the knee and stared at her pointedly.

"Sorry about her." Spencer said looking at Ashley. "Alex, I can't believe you." She paused and smirked "You know what, I can."

Ashley felt her phone vibrating. "You know what? I've got this sudden urge to go to the bathroom." She stood up hurriedly.

"You can use the one in my room." Spencer offered.

"Thanks." the brunette kissed her on the cheek and went up the stairs with a smug look on her face, knowing Bella and Alex were certainly going to ask her about the kiss.

"Okay, what the hell was that, Spencer?" Alex immediately asked once the brunette had disappeared from sight.

"Um… what was what?"

"I think what Alex was trying to say was why a girl you just met is kissing you?"

Spencer bit her lip and answered. "Cause we're kinda dating… at least that's what we want Carmen to think." She could tell that Bella's gears were churning.

"Is she...?"

"Yeah."

"This changes things." Bella was lost in thought until she noticed Alex looked very confused.

"Remember last week? When Spencer told us about the dream she had. The fire."

Pushing her lips to the side, Alex tried to remember…

_**Last Week….**_

"_Hey Spence!" Alex said walking into the store. One look at her and she could tell that her friend was distracted. "Spencer?" she waved her hand in front of the blonde girl._

"_Hey, what's wrong with her?" Bella said coming in to the store._

"_Don't know. She was like this when I came in."_

"_Spencer?" She said snapping her fingers in front of her face._

"_Huh?" the girl shook her head._

"_Where were you just now, honey?" Bella asked._

"_Just trying to figure out this dream I had last night." she replied, running her fingers through her hair._

"_What about?" Alex leaned against the counter._

"_It's stupid."_

"_Spence. How long have you known us?"_

"_Yeah…" Alex said gently pushing her. "There's nothing we don't know about each other."_

"_Okay, okay... You're right. Well it really wasn't a dream… it was kinda like one of my-"_

"_Premonitions." Alex finished for her._

"_Yeah. See, it was like this..." she began her story._

_After hours of tossing and turning, Spencer was finally able to fall asleep. When she opened her eyes to her dream world, she was in the middle of her family's' store. In her hand, she held a note that was from Carmen. Looking around, she was startled by the sound of glass breaking. She gasped at the sight of the front of the store that had caught on fire. She spun around and headed straight for the back room to find another way out. Looking out the window, she was surprised to find that it was not only burning on the inside of the store but the outside. "Oh my God." She said as she began to cough covering her mouth and nose and running to the phone. Picking it up, she listened…nothing. "Damn it." She was coughing, trapped inside as the smoke was slowly starting to consume her._

_And before she had a chance to escape the flames she heard glass shattering once again._

_A brunette had jumped through the window. "Is anyone in here?" she yelled, brushing off the stray pieces._

"_Over here." Spencer's call was barely louder than a whisper._ _Following the voice, the young brunette found her lying on the floor. "Spence! Stay with me. I'm gonna get you out of here. I'm not gonna lose you now, Shopee girl" She bent down to pick her up. Making sure they were both covered with the flame retardant blanket, she ran though the flames to get them out of this hell._

"Are you sure it's her?" Bella scratched her head.

"Pretty sure, her face was blurry… but I'd recognize that voice anywhere. I felt it when we met. Besides you know these things aren't ever perfect."

Upstairs, Ashley was eves dropping their conversation. So Spencer had dreamt about a fire. It felt awfully familiar to the brunette. She remembered her own dream, the one that had got her here, one of the many dreams that plagued her since she found out she was a Slayer.

_Making it safely out of the store, she knew the fire department would never make it to save the building. "Wills, we could use a little of that magic of yours." She carefully placed the blonde on the ground._

"_I'm on it." The Wicca clapped her hands together. Closing her eyes, her head flew back and a brilliant white light started to flow through her. She pushed her hands outwards and the fire slowly began to dissipate. Seconds later, the shop looked intact, as if nothing had ever happened._

"_Very impressive." A figure walked out from the shadows. "You've got a Wicca on your side." The creature said, face still hidden in shadows from sight, with a mocking tone. "Definitely_

_a new twist on things." waving them off. "No matter, you'll all die soon."_

_Ashley looked down to the blonde girl who was slowly starting to stir in her lap. "And a few Slayers to boot." Standing as three other Slayers joined her side, "You can't win, our side always wins, no matter what big bads we come across."_

"_Please, call me Forisya…" The demon sneered, placing her hand on its chest. "After all, it is who I am. Don't bother…" Groaning the beast exhaled as they felt Willow's magic trying to get the creature to show it's true form. "You may be a powerful Wicca…." The evil creature titled its head from side to side as if cracking it's neck. "But I make this look good…" it laughed as they slowly began to transform into something else. "Don't say I didn't warn you."_

Being jarred out of her memory, Ashley pulled out her phone. She saw she had received a text from her boss. She read it and let out a heavy sigh. Spencer was going meet her bosses sooner than she wanted.

_**Two Towns Over…**_

"Yo B., you here?" The brunette walked into the house. After going off by herself, the younger Slayer had decided to travel with Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies for a while. It felt totally out of character for her to ask, but no one ever really understood her like the blonde Slayer. After defeating the First, they all felt a break was in order. Little did they know, this so-called quiet town was home to one of the biggest nasties they had seen in a while.

"In here!" She yelled from the kitchen.

"Any word on the Auximoa yet?" the brunette Slayer took a seat on the bar stool across from her. The blonde set a glass on the counter in front of her.

"Ashley got a hold of Willow and I about an hour ago." She said, pouring some coke into the glass. "It seems that this isn't gonna to be as cut and dry as we thought." The blonde Slayer said putting the bottle back in the refrigerator.

"What's the sitch?" the former rouge slayer asked.

"It's human."

"Why does it seem like trouble always finds its way to us." Faith picked up the glass and took a drink.

"The life of a Slayer." Buffy replied as she took the glass from her. Over the months, things had gotten complicated between the two. Depending on whose prospective you were looking from.

"You can say that again, B." She said placing her hand on the small of her back as she made her way around the counter. The touch felt so natural, but things were still unclear…like it was an unspoken rule between them; it was okay and necessary for both of them.

Leaning into the touch, Buffy took another sip. "Human." It was meant more as a statement than a question. "Which is something we didn't anticipate."

"Makes things simpler though. _Big Bad_ must be near then." Faith encircled the other slayer from behind, putting her chin on her shoulder.

"Has to be." Buffy turned so that she was fully in her arms. "When the purest form of good is around, there has to be evil around to corrupt it." She sighed and took Faith's sweet scent in. "I missed you." She said matter-of-factly. They were the Chosen Two, the only ones who could fully understand the life of a Slayer, who had bore the burden of protecting the world alone, without an army backing them up when things got ugly. Now, it was that same destiny that was pulling them back together. For Buffy, it was a lot easier for her to expect. Faith, on the other hand, seemed like she was waiting on the other foot to drop.

**TBC….**


	6. Chapter 5

_**A/N: **Sorry for the delay hope those that are reading are enjoy!_

_**6 months ago…**_

_"Looks like the Hellmouth is officially closed for business." The Rogue Slayer walked over to were all the other Scoobies had gathered at the edge of the huge crater that now was Sunnydale._

_"There is another one in Cleveland. Not to spoil the moment." Giles picked up a rock and threw it into the canyon._

_"We saved the world." Xander stated proudly._

_"We changed the world. I can feel them, Buffy. All over. Slayers are awakening everywhere."_

_"We'll have to find them." Dawn added._

_"We will."_

_"Yes, because the mall was actually in Sunnydale, so there's no hope of going there __tomorrow." Giles's attempt at a joke was a relief for once._

_"We destroyed the mall? I fought on the wrong side." Dawn said sarcastically._

_"All those shops gone. The Gap, Starbucks, Toys "R" Us. Who will remember all those landmarks unless we tell the world about them?"_

_"We have a lot of work ahead of us."_

"_Can I push him in?" the asked the Wicca._

"_You've got my vote."_

_"I just want to sleep, yo, for like a week." Faith shoved the watcher playfully._

_"I guess we all could, if we wanted to."_

_"Yeah. The First is scrunched, so... what do you think we should do, Buffy?"_

_"Yeah, you're not the one and only chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?" The brunette slayer asked at Buffy's back._

_"Yeah, Buffy. What are we gonna do now?" Dawn turned to her sister._

_The blonde Slayer smiled, she realized they were right. "I think Faith had the right idea." She turned back towards the group. "Let's live."_

"How are you?"

"You know me, B…"

"Five by five." She smiled pulling out of the embrace.

"What's the matter?"

"It's nothing." She said running her hand through her hair.

"Come on, B…I've always been a little slow here, help me out."

"I'm getting that now." Buffy said, leaning up against the counter. "I'm feeling a total dump-o -rama signal coming from you."

"What are you talking about, B? We're all good here." The brunette frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Totally five by five, B." She said cupping her hands to her cheek. Leaning in, she brought their lips together. After a moment, she pulled back with a smile on her face. "Are we done wigging now?"

"Wig free." Buffy grinned "I'm done with the wig. No more wigging for me." Her babbling was cut off by yet another kiss.

"Have I told you lately how cute you are when you babble?" Faith was giving her a crocked smile.

"Not lately." She wasn't able to contain her own smile. "I can always do for the cute talk."

"Well, you are." the dark Slayer grinned at her dimples on display.

"Thanks, a girl could get used to that." Taking her hand, she led her to the living room. Pulling her down to the couch, she laid her legs across her lap. "Everyone should be here in an hour..."

"Plenty of time for some girl-on-girl action. Whad'ya say, B?"

The blonde nodded, slowly trailing her hand up and down the girl's leg. "Faith." Her hand suddenly froze "Honey, did you hear what I said?"

"Yeah big bad coming and all" Faith shrugged, knowing perfectly well what Buffy actually meant. The disappointed look on the blonde's face told her she needed to deal with this now.

"Sorry babe." She said with a sigh. "Guess we need to talk uh?"

_**5 Months Ago…**_

"_Damn, B.!" Faith shut the door to the last Hotel room. "These girls are wicked bugging, yo." Even though they were no longer the only two Slayers, they knew they couldn't just leave them on their own. "How the hell did you deal with them all this time?"_

_The other young woman held herself against the railing. "I'm just as clueless as they are…I had help, Kennedy's pretty good with them. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not perfect." Smiling weakly at her. The two Slayers stood in silence as the nights air began to consume them. _"_Why'd you come back?" Buffy asked curiously. It had only been a few weeks since the former rogue Slayer had left her and the gang. She wasn't sure if she had gone back to her old ways, and a part of her hoped she hadn't._

_Taken aback by her question, Faith just stared at the older girl. Opening her mouth to say something she quickly shut it, when she realized she didn't really know what to say._

"_I can't have you around if you're gonna-"_

"_If I'm gonna what, B?" Turning from her. "Damn it Buffy! I'm done with all that…I'm __on your side. I thought you knew that already."_

"_I…I just don't want you to come back and stab-"_

"_Did you forget, B? You're the one that stabbed me!" The dark slayer asked pulling up her shirt reveling her scar. "Don't you remember that?" grabbing the other Slayers hand and forcing her to feel the pain she had caused._

_Yanking her hand back, Buffy just stared at her. "That's not what I meant, Faith."_

"_Then tell me, oh wise Chosen One, what did you mean… 'Cause I'm getting the vibe that you didn't want me to come back…I'm sick and tired of having to prove myself to you, B…I just tired."_

_Closing her eyes, Buffy began to see how much pain she really had caused Faith; it was definitely a two way street. She was just as tired as the girl standing across from her. "I'm sorry." the blonde Slayer said barely above a whisper. "I'm just so lost right now…everything is hitting me, I just don't-"_

"_I'm done with that, Buffy…all the running, I'm trying to make amends here, Buffy, for everything. Including what I did to you. I hurt you the most, that's why I came back."_

_Reaching out timidly, Buffy placed a gentle hand on the scar that was once again covered by the red tank top the dark slayer wore. "I hurt you, too…I'll never forgive myself."_

_Shrugging, Faith moved away from her touch. "It's all good, B." Avoiding the awkward silence, Faith quickly changed the subject. "You up for some slayage? I'm getting antsy just sitting here…besides there has to be some badies around." She punched her fist into her hand._

_Buffy tilted her head to the side and stared at her. "Nah. But I could use some company down at that diner I saw a few blocks down."_

"_I'm down, B, let's go."_

_Making their way through the empty street, Faith knew the other Slayer's senses were on guard just like hers. It felt so natural now; she didn't even have to focus to be aware of her surroundings. Plus, the bond she had been sharing with her counterpart acted as a backup._

"_So I was thinking, B..." she said stuffing her hands into her pockets. "Traveling... you, me and __the Scoobies for a while. You know, do some good."_

"_I kinda figured you wouldn't be going back to prison." Buffy kept her eyes on the street ahead of them. "I don't blame you." she shrugged and ran a shaky hand through her hair "I can see it… the change. And as you would say, we're all wicked stressed from saving the world." She chuckled softly, getting a half-smile in return from Faith as they walked through the door of the diner. "Angel said you were doing better…He was right." The_ _pair took seats in one of the booths._"

_Thanks. That means a lot." Faith picked up the menu. "I'm not looking for a hand out though, B."_

"_I'm not looking to give one. I know what Angel went through to get to where he is. And I know I can't give you what you're searching for but…I…I can try not to be so hard on you. You deserve that...you went to hell and back with me and I can never thank you enough for that." Looking at her, Buffy felt like she was seeing her for the first time. "I've kinda given you an unfair shake since we met." She heard someone clearing their throat, looked up, and noticed the waitress with an annoyed look on her face. "We haven't made our choice yet." She shot her a deadly gaze, and the waitress took it as her cue to leave. "I think it's time for a new fresh start… for all of us."_

_Smiling her first real smile in days, Faith looked up and met hazel eyes "That's wicked cool of you…and I know it'll take some time, but I hope we can really be friends this time around."_

"Yeah." Buffy replied softy. They had been playing this come-here-go-away game for months now. "I just can't have another Angel disaster" The blonde said so softly that if it wasn't for Slayer hearing, Faith wouldn't have heard her. "I can't fall for you and have you leaving."

Feeling the girl move under her, she sighed. "But you have already, haven't you?" Faith stood in front of her. "Haven't you, B?" she asked the blonde again when she didn't get answer.

"So what if I have?" The Chosen one replied. "Would that be so wrong if I thought you were girlfriendly?" She noticed the girl cringe at her word. Pulling her legs into her, Buffy watched as the girl began to pace.

'_Damn it! Don't screw this up Faith she wants you, you want her.' _The voice in her head tried to win the internal battle that was raging inside the dark Slayer. "She wants me." She whispered to herself.

"Yes, I do." The brunette's brown eyes met the other Slayer's hazel pools and Faith knew those three words implied much more than what they seemed.

_**4 months ago…**_

_The two Slayers drove down the empty highway. It was late, but they needed to get food for the house._

"_You know, B…we really should have picked a place a little closer to civilization." The brunette chuckled as she flipped the right turn signal so she could merge into the lane._

"_Yeah, I know…I just need to get out of there."_

"_I know." Sighing as she turned her head to check her blind spot. Seeing that the lane was clear, she began to merge. "B…"_

"_Yeah." They blonde replied as she stared out the window into the moonlit sky._

"_Can I ask you something?" she glanced over at her passenger. "Since Will did all her magic mojo on the scythe…" she paused, not knowing how to phrase what she wanted to say next. "Do you think the connection… is stronger?" the brunette turned her attention back to the empty road._

"_Yeah…The Slayer connection is stronger because there are thousands of us."_

"_That's not what I meant, B…. I meant the connection we had before all the mojo." When she didn't get an answer, Faith began again. "Forget I said anything it's…"_

"_It's not stupid, Faith." Buffy interrupted her "It was there…before. And now it's..."_

"_Overwhelming." the dark Slayer finished for her._

"_I was gonna say intense…but overwhelming works, too." She chuckled as they finally got on the exit that led to L.A._

"_Intense but…but good." She saw the blonde nod from the corner of her eyes and released the breathe she had been unconsciously holding._

_TBC..._


	7. Chapter 6

Faith stood frozen in the middle of the living room, trying to form a coherent thought after Buffy's admission that she wanted her.

'_All my life there was only one person that tried to be my friend, - went out of her way when I had no right or reason to expect her to - and I screwed her.'_ The brunette's own words echoed through her head. "You remember that fight we had right before I went to prison?"

"On Angel's roof."

"I had the balls to ask you what I could do to make it right?" the former rogue Slayer scoffed.

_"You're not gonna run, Faith." The blonde was slowly walking up to her._

_"What do you wanna do?" The dark slayer paused. "You're gonna throw me off the roof -again?" Faith replied bitterly with her back to her former Slaying partner._

_"Any reason why I shouldn't?" Buffy asked letting her anger for the girl slip through._

_"There is nothing I can do for you, B. I can't ever make it right." The brunette shrugged defeated, turning towards the chosen one._

_"So you're just going to take off again. Leave us to clean up yet another one of your messes." _

_"It would make things easier for you." _

_"Till you got bored with the whole guilt thing - decided to come back to shake things up?" Buffy said as the two slowly made their way towards each other._

_"That's not gonna happen." The rouge Slayer said with conviction. _

_"You're right… It's not." The chosen one replied through clenched teeth._

_"Angel said there was no way you were gonna give me a chance." _

_"I gave you every chance! I tried so hard to help you, and you spat on me. My life was just something for you to play with. Angel - Riley - anything that you could take from me - you took. I've lost battles before - but nobody else has -ever- made me a victim." _

_"And you can't stand that. You're all about control. You have no idea what it's like on the other side! Where nothing's in control, nothing makes sense! There is just pain and hate and nothing you do means anything. You can't even.." _

_"Shut up!" The blonde shouted._

_"Just tell me how to make it better." Pleading was the only solution she had left._

"You did…" Buffy said, standing and walking over to her."When you saved Angel…and fought by my side against the First." She took the brunette's hand in her own.

"Only 'cause I had too…if you…" Faith was cut off by the slender finger on her lips.

"You could have run... After you broke out…you didn't have to come back with Willow…but you did." Buffy removed her finger and started tracing, delicately, the line of the brunette's jaw.

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good fight…especially when it's by your side." Faith quipped. "Always know how to make a girl horny, B." Faith grinned, pulling the smaller girl in her arms.

"I'm being serious, Faith." She playfully slapped her on the arm.

"I know, B." the girl sighed and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You said you don't want another Angel disaster…Well," she paused and placed her chin on top of the smaller slayer's head, pulling their two bodies closer. "I don't want another Jamie."

_**2 months ago…**_

_It had been several months since they had settled in Lakewood, California. It was nice and peaceful, sometimes too peaceful for the elder Slayers. But one thing they knew was they had gotten closer. Now, sitting in a local diner - this had become a nightly ritual for the two, sort of a release…since there was not much in the way of slayage going on. The sexual tension between them was getting thicker._

"_Here you go, ladies." The waitress placed the several plates on the table._

"_Thank you." Buffy said taking a fry off her plate first, rolling it in her finger she glanced up at Faith. "Do you sense some oggly-booglies?" Her eyes were wondering around the diner in search of some vamps, but she knew there weren't any. She was getting something like what Faith described as "A good down low tickle." How low, she was surprised by and wasn't sure she was ready to admit. _

"_What the hell is going on?" Swallowing hard, Faith shook her head as she thought to herself. _

"_Um, B…I think we might have a situation…major overload." Neither of them really knew how they should approach the subject. There was only one other person that caused her to feel what she was feeling…and that person was the origin of her mantra 'get some, get gone'._ _"I lied to you." Faith sighed as flash of anger appeared in Buffy's eyes. "Chill, B…it's not really a lie more like an omission."_

"_Spill it, Faith."_

"_Ok… No need for the 'tude." Pausing she licked her lips. Suddenly, she didn't feel like she wanted to reveal anything but she could tell Buffy wasn't in the mood for games. "Remember when I told you that I was a loser magnet?"_

"_Faith?" the blonde's patience was wearing thin._

"_Well… I was in love once before."_

"_I'm serious, Aiden." A girl cut her off as they walked into the dinner._

"_A witch? Come on, Ash…And demons. That's a little far fetched…we're not in a fairy tale." He said as they sat at the counter._

"_Yeah, you're definitely not Prince Charming." The girl snorted._

_At their table across dinner, the two slayers looked at each other. Wordlessly the two slayers stood and made their way over to the young friends._ _"Yo, kid, what did this witch look like?" Faith said being the first to speak up._

"_My name is not Kid…It's Ashley." The young brunette drawled out. "Here, say it with me…Ash-ley."Rolling her eyes. "And this stud is my best friend Aiden." _

_Putting an arm in front of her partner Buffy tried again. "I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse Faith, she's lacking what I like to call tact." She went to open her mouth when Faith cut her off._

"_Don't correct me, B." Faith glared at both of them. "If Ashley's got news some Big Bad I wanna know about it."_

"_Well there's the Faith I know and love…I was wondering how long it would take for her to come out." Buffy closed her eyes, immediately regretting her words._

"_Man screw that…better yet screw you." Faith shouted, waving her off and leaving._

"_Faith…" She called after her._

"_Um don't mean to break up your lover's quarrel but…"_

_The blonde Slayer sighed. She knew she needed to go after her younger friend and apologize. If they were going to work on their friendship, and whatever they had blooming, they had to forgive their past mistakes even if they couldn't forget it._ _"Ashley… I'll talk to you later…nice to meet you Aiden." Buffy said as she left the diner in a hurry. She didn't know where she was going. She just followed the tingle, knowing she was also heading towards danger. After minutes of_

_aimlessly walking, Buffy finally heard that familiar whooshing of a vamp turning into dust after it's undead heart had been pierced by the pointy end of a stake._

"_I knew you'd find me, B." Faith said as she brushed the last remnants of vampire dust from her jacket. "Always follow the danger right?" she smirked._

"_So do you…how did you manage to find a vamp?" the rogue Slayer shrugged in answer._

"_Faith." Buffy began._

"_No big, B…I'm used to it. I was never one for tact." The younger Slayer just shrugged as she hopped on the hood of an abandon car that sat in the alley. "So was that all? You wanted to hunt me down and…"_

"_Stop it…I didn't come to find you to fight." Buffy bit her lip "I'm sorry…I totally went old Buffy on you back there and I shouldn't have…me and you, we're partners in this._ _I…we." She corrected herself. "We can't do this alone anymore…this whole Slayer thing. I don't want to fight anymore….with you Faith." Buffy stared at the dark slayer. The silence was killing her. "Well, are you gonna say anything?"_

"_Her name was Jamie. I was completely in love with her, and she was with me." Faith folded her legs into her as she sat on the car. "Her eyes were like emeralds…nothing I'd ever seen before. She was wicked hot." She let out a chuckle. "But she would never have admitted it. All the girls wanted to be her, all the guys wanted to be with her." She paused, closing her eyes and taking in the night's air._

"_Faith why are…" She stopped when Faith held her hand up, motioning her to stay silent._

"_But I had her…she was my best friend, my everything…then it happened. I was going over to her house… and…and…the cops were there. First I thought something had happened to her." Faith's were still closed as she recalled the memory. "But she was fine…just ran off with some girl she met at a party. I was devastated, B." She said, looking at her friend who was now sitting beside her. "At least that's what her parents said…they never liked me…what kind of parents would like some girl that was banging their daughter." the dark Slayer tried to shrug off the unpleasant feelings that were growing in her heart._

_Reaching up, the blonde slayer cupped her cheek._ _"Faith, why are you telling me this?"_

_Taking her hand, she laced her fingers with the other girl's. "Because this…" she said once again feeling that tingling feeling at the bottom of her spine. "The feeling like the big bad is around… I'm getting it now, and I know you are too." She paused "I had that same feeling with her… became stronger after I was called." She said holding her breath after dropping a major bomb._

"_I won't lie, there's definite spark-age." Not releasing her hand, Buffy bit her lip. "I wanna try something." She placed her hand on the other Slayer's knee and leaned in, placing a gentle kiss on her lips._

_The younger girl's brain froze. She'd never known the blonde to be so bold, but she was glad to find out. When they pulled away, their eyes met, and both of them noticed they reflected the same thing._

"_Slow?" Buffy asked. It was not really a question but more like a statement that they both needed to hear._

"Never simple with us is it, B.?" Faith whispered, taking in the other Slayers scent.

"I think we kinda like it that way, don't you?" she slowly pulled away.

"What do you want from me, Buffy?"

"You know what I want." her back was turned to her.

"You have me."

"No, I have the Faith that's too afraid to admit what is going on with…us."

"I.." Closing her eyes, she knew what the other wanted to hear. She just didn't know if she was ready to say it.

"It's ok. I just don't know if I can take little touches here, and kisses there. I…I need someone who's gonna love me back." The blonde slayer said dropping the L word for the first time.

"So what are you saying, B…I if I don't tell you I love you, we're done?" she turned the chosen one around to look at her. "Fine if that's what you want to hear…I love you, B., and it scares the hell out of me."

"No, you don't." Buffy smiled weakly at her. "But I believe that you're scared…" she pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "I'm scared, too…we've hurt each other so much…and now we have a chance to heal with each other. I don't…I'm not asking you to commit to me." the blonde slayer paused trying to formulate what she wanted to say. "I just want to know when your feelings get too overwhelming that you're not going to leave…you're going to stick around and see it through."

"Nobody's ever made me…want to stick around." the dark Slayer sighed and closed her eyes. Whether she wanted to admit it, Buffy Anne Summers was etched into her heart. "I can do that, B." Faith opened her eyes to see gorgeous hazel ones staring back at her. "That I can definitely do." Giving her best dimpled grin she leaned down to give her a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Uuhmm."

"Uh you guys know that their are like twenty rooms in this house…" The young Slayer scoffed as walked into the house. "Here's an idea…use one!"

"Hey, Kennedy." Faith said not breaking her hold on the blonde Slayer. "Bite me."

"I'll leave that to Buffy…Oww….What was that for?" the young Slayer exclaimed and glared at her girlfriend.

"You're talking about my best friend and her girlfriend." the redhead replied looking at them. "I think it's cute….young love and all." she smiled sweetly at her best friend.

"I wouldn't call it love, Wills…" Buffy glanced over at Faith who just tightened her hold on her.

"Definite potential though." The blonde Slayer nodded with a smile spread from ear to ear.

"Besides, it was only a matter of time before she fell for the dimples." Faith quipped flashing the dimples in question.

"She's got a point." Willow said as she sat down on the couch pulling her girlfriend with her.

"Uh…Wills? Supposed to be on my side." the blonde Slayer said as she folded her arms over her chest.

"She is, babe." the former rogue Slayer said tapping the end of her nose.

"Anyway," the witch's girlfriend drawled out, rolling her eyes. "What's the deal with the Big Bad…Willow said that Ash called earlier."

"Nothing new since she called, but they're supposed to be here…" she looked over at the clock on the wall. "Over an hour a go." Buffy said with concern.

"Me and Faith can do some recon." Kennedy said eager to go to work.

"Thanks…ever so much for volunteering me!" running her hand through her hair, Faith plopped down on a chair. "I just would like to spend some time with my girlfriend."

"Whipped." Kennedy coughed. "Oww…again with the hitting!"

"What was that? You want to say that a little louder and to my face?" Faith seethed as she started to get up.

"Well…I, for one…" The Wicca smiled at her best friend. "Think it's sweet." She was completely ignoring the two brunettes who were glaring at each other. Willow mouthed 'girlfriend' with a questioning look to her blonde best friend.

"Me too!" The blonde replied, and shrugged at the redhead's silent question. This had been the first time that Faith had actually used the word…up to that point, they had just been friends with benefits.

"Enough already, you two." Buffy snapped out of her own admiration of the reformed Slayer. "If you two were guys, I'd say take the testosterone outside! Faith.. you're coming with me! Will, I need you to find something that we can beat this God with…besides the Auximoa." she noticed the confusion on her best friend's face "We'll be back in a couple of hours." The blonde said grabbing Faith's hand and pulling her out of the chair before heading out.

"That was fun." Kennedy said putting her feet up on the table.

"If I wasn't so in love with you." The Wicca rolled her eyes…and with a snap of her fingers her girlfriend changed in to a donkey right before her eyes.

"Hey, no fair using magic." the donkey yelled to the young witch.

"I know but," She said laughing. "But you're such a cute ass." She snapped her fingers once again, changing her Slayer girlfriend back.

"Oh you're so dead, Rosenberg." The Slayer said as a mischievous grin appeared on her face.

"You gotta catch me first, Slayer." The redhead giggled as she made her way up the stairs with the young Slayer hot on her trail.

TBC…..


	8. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry for the delay I had this written didn't think anyone was really reading but it appears I was wrong and have several readers. That being said here is a chapter, and I may post another one later today. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 7

The dark cavern was filled with the sounds of snarling, and growling the demon had, had just about enough of it.

"Silence!" It yelled. "What's a demon gotta do to get some peace and quiet around here?" It was almost time. "Soon." It said to itself. "Soon, I won't have to live down here hidden…they will bow at my feet, or they will die at my hand, and there isn't a thing they can do about it." It growled.

"Master." one of the demons minions interrupted.

"What!" It snapped, the demon didn't have much tolerance for those who dared interrupting its ramblings. The other minions wondered why this guy was still living. "What do you want, Gooloff? You know I'm not to be disturbed." It growled through gritted teeth.

"Yes…Yes…I know." the creature replied bowing. "I just wanted to report to you that the chosen two are on the move."

"Ugh." it began to rub its temples. "Do you think I don't know what those two Slayers are doing!" It snapped causing its loyal servant to jump.

"I…ALWAYS…KNOW…WHAT…THEY…ARE…DOING!" The demon growled, punching its massive fist into the side of the cavern wall with each word. At its full height, it stood nearly 8 feet tall, which would be enough to intimidate anybody. Reaching out with its other hand in one fell swoop, it grabbed the minion by the throat and began squeezing it. "Gooloff," The demon stared at him coldly and the minion began to quiver in fear. "Easy..I'm not gonna kill you." it let him down "You know how I don't like to be interrupted…just tell me something that I don't already know."

"Yes master." the creature said bowing once again. "The rumblings in the underworld seem to think the tides are turning in our favor…seems we have someone who…" the creature paused, trying to remember something. "Ah yes, as the humans say…has an in."

"Gooloff," The creature began to laugh evilly. "I think I love you. Now I remember why I don't kill you."

"That's always good master." he laughed

"Yes it is." It continued to laugh. "The world won't know what hit them."

"What's wrong with her?" Ashley said coming back down the stairs.

"I think she's having a premonition." Bella said looking up at her, waving her hand in front of her best friend's face. "That's the only time she gets that blank stare on her face."

"We've never seen her having one this long." The older girl said as there was a knock on the door.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Faith said as she and Buffy stood outside.

"Yeah." Pulling her arms around herself, the cool Autumn air had quickly descended upon them the Summer temperatures had lasted longer than any of them had expected.

"Cold?" the dark hair-Slayer asked, her shivering girlfriend.

"Yeah." Looking over at her Buffy shrugged it off. "I'll be fine."

Reaching over, the dark Slayer pulled her into her. "I could definitely get use to this." Smiling as the door was opened.

"Buffy…Faith." Ashley acknowledge as she swung the door open. "You guys have good timing." Stepping aside to let them in. "Her friends thinks she's having some kind of premonition."

Breaking from their hold, the two slayers rushed into the house. Kneeling down in front of her.

Buffy tried to get her attention. "Spencer right?" Looking for confirmation from Ashley, who only nodded as her face began to show worry all over it.

"We usually just let her go. She'll snap out of it herself." Bella interjected worried about her friend. This had been the longest time she had seen her out.

"Look, I'm sure she's gonna be OK." The dark slayer replied not really sure what she was supposed to do.

"Faith!" The hazel eye slayer called from her kneeling position.

"Yeah, B.?" Snapping out of her internal musing.

"Keep an eye on her will you? I need to call Will…"

"But…what."

"Just do it, Faith!" the older blonde said jumping up.

"Ok..whatever." punching her fist into her hand.

Rushing out the door and down the path towards their car, Buffy wasn't sure why she was running but she knew there wasn't time to waste. Focused on what she was doing, Buffy was making no effort to watch where she was going. "Ooopf." Buffy yelped as she fell flat on her bottom. "Don't you ever watch where you going?" Buffy asked slowly standing from the collision.

"Sorry…I've been known to be accident prone." dusting her pants off, the young brunette held out her hand. "Here can I give you a hand."

"Thanks." grasping the hand. "And it's my fault…I wasn't watching."

"Not a problem." Smiling at the young blonde. "You're not from around here are you?"

"No me and my…" smiling Buffy trialed off thinking of the dark slayer that waited for her return inside the house.

"You and your what?" the younger brunette asked interrupting the older Slayers internal musing.

Shaking her head she smiled. "My girlfriend." Buffy finally said out loud. "We're just visiting some friends and…wait. I'm sorry, I tend to babble and sometimes I even confuse myself." The blonde Slayer said with a nervous chuckle.

"No problem." Nodding in understanding. "Not only am a natural born klutz, I'm also a babbler. Runs in the family, and it's a big family." Chuckling.

"Yo, B.!" Faith said yelling out of the house. "I think she may be coming out of it."

"Well, I guess I better go."

"Sure thing. See ya around." Smiling without saying anything more the young woman walked away.

"Rude much?" Buffy said to no one in particular. Turning, she almost forgot what she came outside for. Making the few last steps to the car, she grabbed her cell and made her way back up to the house.

"What was that about?' Faith asked not having taken her eyes off the scene as it played out in front of her.

"Just me being an uber klutz." the older Slayer replied as she made her way past her girlfriend back into the house.

Taking one last look out the door, Faith shut it before finally following Buffy back in to the living.

"Has she said anything?"

"No." Ashley said looking up at her.

"Spencer?" Buffy asked gently. "My name is Buffy, this is my partner Faith." motioning towards the dark slayer.

With a loud gasp, Spencer finally came out of her trance. Blinking several times, the young blonde looked around the room. "What.. what's going on?"

"Sweetie you had a vision." Bella said making herself known next to her friend.

"Oh." she said running her hand though her still damp hair.

"What can you tell us?" Buffy asked looking at the girl with some concern.

"Uh…I don't mean to sound rude…but uh, who are you?" Spencer asked looking at the two unfamiliar faces.

"Uh…" Ashley began. "This is my older sister Faith and her girlfriend Buffy." She lied, she couldn't exactly say. "_Oh hey I forgot to mention that I work with them and we've been stalking you for months cause you're this magical fairy that has the fate of the world in your hands." _Yeah, that would go over well.

"Yeah… Like the kid said." Faith interjected.

"Ok." The younger blonde drawled out. "That doesn't exactly explain what you're doing here."

"Right." Buffy said unsure you see. "Funny story. There was this…"

"Thing." the dark Slayer said jumping in.

"Wait…" Ashley said holding up her hands to get them to stop. "What my sister and her girlfriend are trying to say is I called them because of my car problems."

"Yeah." Nodding Buffy said nodding. "And we said we'd come get her."

"And I refused cause I didn't want to put them out." Looking at Spencer. "See, she lives in Lakewood. So I told her I'd met someone and didn't want to leave just yet."

"Ok.." Drawling out Spencer still confused as to why they were there. "So they just decided to drive here to…"

"Invite you all to a Halloween party."

"A Party." Ashley and Buffy said in unison looking at Faith.

"Yeah." the former rouge Slayer said. "Tis the season and all that junk right?"

"That's Christmas." the chosen one said as she rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. What do you say?" looking at all the woman in the room.

"Sure." Spencer said shrugging not really knowing how else to respond to the very odd situation.

Clapping her hands as she stood, Buffy sighed. "Great, it's settled then." Grabbing Faith's hand, Buffy said. "Sweetie, can I speak to you outside?" The golden haired beauty asked pulling Faith along not giving her a chance to react to the sudden movement.

"Sure, B."

"A party, Faith?' The older slayer asked once they were safely outside.

"Yeah, I figure we can get the feel for her."

"How are we gonna set up a Halloween party on such short notice?"

Giving her a dimpled grin she replied. "Is it me or did you forget who your best friend is?"

"Right." Looking at her she blew out an exasperated breath. "You know, I think I like you better all broody."

"I'm always broody, B." Pulling her into her, the slightly taller Slayer whispered hotly into the blonde's ear. "I'm pretty sure that's why you find me so sexy."

Biting her lip the blond pulled away. "You're incorrigible." Pulling out her phone she placed a gently kiss on her lips before making a call to her Wicca best friend.

Back inside the four girls sat staring. Several times Ashley went to open her mouth but then quickly closed it. She really hadn't expected things to take a dramatic turn.

"Well, that was pretty fucking awkward." Alex broke the silence.

"Al!" Slapping her girlfriend on her knee Bella was taken aback by her sudden fowl language.

"Sorry… but it kinda was."

"Yeah." Ashley said.

"What did you see?" Bella asked.

"I'm not actually sure… it was weird. It was like out of a horror movie."

"Like monsters and stuff?" Faith said as she and Buffy entered the room.

"Yeah…how'd you guess?" The young shop keeper asked looking up at the slayer.

"Call it a hunch." rubbing her hands together. "So, who's ready to party?"

Spencer stood and said. "Let me just leave a note for my mom." Getting up and walking into the kitchen, Spencer pulled out a pad that was in a drawer next to the sink. _Out with Bella and Alex. Halloween party. Love Spence. _Sticking it on the fridge she made her way out the room with the others. Grabbing her house keys, she led the others out. Locking up she said. "Let's party." Putting on her best face, what she saw was definitely still nagging her. How was she supposed to tell her girlfriend that she saw her sister dying?

TBC…..


End file.
